Tutukaka Coast / New Zealand

Diving into this natural bath is the reward for your efforts.

Hugging the upper reaches of the North Island, 2.5 hours from Auckland, the coastal village of Matapouri Bay is home to a stunning white-sand beach and a dense collection of mangrove forests. Low tide, though, unveils an even more exquisite prize for anyone adventurous enough to trek a steep path through the palm jungle: what the locals call the Mermaid Pools. Diving into this natural bath—which warms with the sun as the day lengthens—is the reward for your efforts. Submerged in this tide pool that is refreshed via an opening in the rock, you’re both in the ocean and at the same time secreted away from its pull, left in peace to contemplate a fantastic view off New Zealand’s east coast.